The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer’s Cloud Atlas, adapted from David Mitchell’s novel, is quite overwhelming on first viewing: six stories across centuries, with a stand-out cast each playing roles in more than one timeline. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant and company hop eras and identities, and the connections only click into place once you settle in.
After a second or third viewing it becomes a reliable favourite, particularly the section in the retirement home — Jim Broadbent’s Timothy Cavendish, trapped in a tyrannical care home and staging a breakout that is both funny and oddly moving. Ambitious, messy and rewarding; 5/5 for me.
Abbreviated Cast List